


Trial and Error

by cypress_tree



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Humor, Kink Negotiation, M/M, Miscommunication, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-17 19:54:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13084221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cypress_tree/pseuds/cypress_tree
Summary: A romantic comedy of errors in which Newt and Hermann try to spice things up....and fail spectacularly.





	Trial and Error

**Author's Note:**

> thank you AGAIN to [paenteom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/paenteom/pseuds/paenteom) for betaing!!

\---

 

“Hey, do you know any tips to make handcuff marks heal faster?”

Newt snorts and looks up at Lin Wei, who’s rubbing the back of her buzzcut distractedly.

“I’m not that kind of doctor, dude,” Newt says.

“I’m not asking you as a doctor, I’m asking you as someone with experience.”

“Hey—I’ve only been arrested once, and it was at a protest, so—”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Lin Wei glances at the tables around them in the mess hall, then leans in and looks at Newt with a lopsided grin. “That girl I’ve been seeing? She’s into bondage and last night we—”

“Wow, I don’t need to know this—”

“What?! If I can’t talk to my only gay lunch friend then who can I talk to?”

“Uh, half the women in mechanics are gay.”

“Yeah, but I’m the only one who works the morning shift. Except for Carla, but we had a thing for a while, so....anyway, you don’t happen to know any—”

“No, I don’t have any tips.”

“Ugh.” Lin Wei looks down at her wrists, which—now that Newt’s paying attention—do have marks on them. Nothing too scary, just a slightly darker shade than her normally light amber skin. Newt’s never had bruises like that, so he’s not sure where her assumption came from.

“Why did you think I have experience with this?” he asks.

Lin Wei grins. “Come on. Anyone who walks by the lab can hear you and Hermann yelling at each other. You can’t tell me that doesn’t carry over to the bedroom.”

Newt looks down and stirs at his rice with his chopsticks.

“Wait a second, are you saying—”

“I didn’t say anything!”

“You guys _aren’t_ kinky? Wow, hold on. I have to change my whole image of you.”

“We’re kinky! We totally do kinky stuff!”

Lin Wei looks at Newt over her noodles. She slurps up a loud mouthful and stares.

“We do! Hermann’s just really private, so like—I don’t wanna talk about it too much.”

“What kind of stuff do you do?” Lin Wei asks. She raises a skeptical eyebrow. “Not bondage, apparently, even though that’s most people’s starting point.”

Newt shrugs. “Other stuff. We, uh—we had sex in the lab once.”

“Once?”

“I mean—yeah.” What Newt doesn’t say is that it was in the supply closet at 3AM, and the chance of being caught was pretty much zero. He clears his throat. “Hermann banned it after that because it was so, uh—so risky.”

Lin Wei smirks. “Wow, you two sure are wild, huh?”

Newt hears the sarcasm in her voice, but ignores it. He’ll have a talk with Hermann later.

 

\---

 

That night, while he and Hermann are sitting in bed, Newt starts mulling it over. It’s not like there’s anything wrong with their sex life. Newt is satisfied, and if Hermann’s afterglow is anything to go by, then he’s satisfied, too. They might be vanilla, but that doesn’t mean they’re boring.

Still....

When he realizes he’s totally not paying attention to Pokémon anymore, Newt flips the game closed and sets it on the nightstand. He shifts down against the headboard and leans against Hermann.

“Do you wanna try bondage?” he asks.

Hermann looks away from his book and blinks down at Newt, confused.

“What, now?” he asks.

“No, not now, dummy.” Newt rolls his eyes. “I sat with Lin Wei at lunch and she was talking about trying bondage with her new girlfriend—”

“This is really more than I cared to know about Lin Wei.”

“And she just _assumed_ that I was on the same page as her, but like....I’m not. I’ve never done it.”

Hermann puts a bookmark in his worn paperback and sets it on the bed beside him. He takes Newt’s hand. “Did her assumption upset you?” he asks, his voice gentle.

Newt smiles. “Naw, man, it’s not that. It’s just—I mean, it’s not the first time someone’s assumed that you and I are kinky. If everyone really thinks that, then maybe there’s something to it, you know? Maybe we _should_ be.”

Hermann doesn’t say anything. Newt’s a little tense.

“Do you think we’re boring?” Hermann asks.

Newt sits up. “No! No way! Sex with you is awesome, it’s just—I mean we could try some new stuff, you know? Branch out. Bondage isn’t even weird, lots of people do it.”

Hermann raises an eyebrow.

“Maybe we could try some other stuff, too? Other kinds of like—kinky stuff. Nothing too intense, but....I dunno. Would you be down with that?”

Hermann purses his lips, then the side of his mouth quirks up.

“Honestly, I expected you to bring this up ages ago.”

Newt laughs, flooded with relief. Hermann ruffles his hair, and Newt leans in a little closer.

 

\---

 

Hermann refuses to step foot inside of a sex shop, even though Newt knows one that’s clean and gay-friendly and not sketchy at all. He only went there once, and felt excruciatingly awkward the entire time, but he still mentions it. He wants Hermann to think that he’s really knowledgeable about this sort of thing.

Instead of going out, they buy online, from the comfort of their own room. This time, it’s Hermann leaning against Newt, peering at the tablet in Newt’s lap as he scrolls through lists of reasonably-priced toys and friendly tips for beginners.

“What were you thinking of?” Hermann asks.

“Uhh—handcuffs?”

“We shouldn’t _start_ with handcuffs.”

“We can get fuzzy handcuffs. Like these.”

“I wouldn’t be able to take you seriously in fuzzy handcuffs.”

“Uh, _rude_. I’d be sexy in anything.” Newt continues to scroll until Hermann makes a little “oh!”

“Rope,” he says. “Let’s try rope. I was rather good at tying knots when I was younger.”

Newt adds the rope to his shopping cart, then says, “I love how you assume _I’m_ the one getting tied up.”

Hermann freezes. “Oh—did you not want to be?”

“Hehehe—did I _knot_ want to be?”

“I’m serious!” Hermann frowns. “I won’t make you do something you don’t want to do.”

“No, dude, I’m just teasing. You’re right.”

“I thought so.”

Newt taps another category on the menu, then pauses. “Wait—what do you mean you thought so? What made you think so?”

Hermann shrugs. “Well, I just—the way you talked about Lin Wei made me think....”

Newt scrolls down.

“You do have a certain image, you know.”

“I _what_?!”

 

\---

 

Fifteen minutes and one lecture about how “just because a guy prefers to bottom doesn’t mean he’s a sub” later, Newt and a suitably chastened Hermann continue their shopping. Newt wants a paddle and a tickler. Hermann wants a blindfold and a low-temperature candle. He also talks Newt into getting massage oil with pheromones in it, even though Newt says the science behind that one is bullshit.

“Okay,” Newt says, as they’re about to check out. “This is—I mean, I don’t wanna complain, but this is really vanilla.”

“We’re beginners,” Hermann says. He shifts down a little lower in bed and links his arm through Newt’s.

Newt taps through all the checkout screens and glances over the receipt sent to his email. Then he sets the tablet aside and looks down at Hermann, who’s toying with a thread sticking out of their blanket.

“Hey,” Newt says. Hermann looks up at him, and if that isn’t the one of the sweetest looks Hermann’s ever given him, then Newt’s not sure what is. “You are so super cute right now,” he says. Hermann smiles. “And all this shopping and planning and stuff has gotten me kinda horny, so if you wanna...”

Hermann’s smile turns apologetic. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I’m afraid I don’t have the energy.”

Newt sighs. “Alright, alright.”

“But I’ll watch,” Hermann adds. “Very attentively. If you’d like to take care of yourself here in front of me.”

A smile creeps across Newt’s face. He gets out from under the covers, moves back so Hermann can see, then slowly unbuttons his boxers.

 

\---

 

It takes a little over a week for their order to arrive. Newt receives the delivery email in the middle of a meeting. He tilts his phone towards Hermann, who sets his glasses on his nose and squints at it with solemn concentration. Once he realizes what it is, his eyes bug out, and he swats the phone away as if it’s on fire. It flies out of Newt’s hand and hits an engineer on the elbow.

“You are _not_ bringing that box to the lab,” Hermann mutters as they leave, an hour later.

The package is a plain, discreet box, which Newt is thankful for, since it wouldn’t fit in his mail slot, and he had to pick it up from the chatty employee at the counter. He texts a picture to Hermann and stabs the winking emoji five times with his thumb. Hermann texts back immediately: _NOT IN THE LAB_.

 

\---

 

Later that night, Newt and Hermann sit across from each other on their bed.

“So what do you want to start with?” Newt asks.

“Erm....” Hermann’s cheeks flush. He sifts through the contents of the box with one hand. “Well, I think we should start slow, so perhaps—if you’re willing—you could blindfold me?”

Newt smiles wide. He feels all warm and gooey, like he always does when Hermann is bashful. He imagines Hermann reclining back against the pillows, wearing nothing but a black silk blindfold, and arching up towards Newt’s touch.

“Yeah,” he says, then clears his throat. “Yeah, I can do that for you.” He takes the blindfold out of its thin plastic bag and moves the box to the floor. “You were pretty quick to jump on the blindfold thing; have you done this before?”

Hermann shakes his head. “No, but I’ve been curious. Losing one sense will heighten the others, so it should make touch feel more intense.”

Newt nods and unbuttons his shirt. Hermann is watching, but he seems a little distracted, like he wants to say something more.

“Also,” he adds. “I like your voice.”

“My voice? Seriously?”

“Yes. I surprised even myself with this realisation.”

Newt gives Hermann a half-hearted thwack, but he can feel himself blushing. “Okay, but honestly,” he says. “No one has ever complimented my voice. I sound like I’m going through puberty. As soon as I open my mouth, people stop taking me seriously.”

“Oh, I think it happens a little before that.”

Newt gives him another thwack, not holding back this time.

“Honestly though,” Hermann laughs. “I like it. It’s very expressive.”

Newt smiles. Hermann is looking at him so lovingly that Newt can’t help but crawl closer and kiss him.

“Lie back against the pillows,” he says. He unbuttons his pants, and gives Hermann a peek at his boxers. Just as Hermann is reaching out to him, Newt wraps the blindfold over Hermann’s eyes.

“Oh, _unfair_ ,” Hermann groans. Newt smiles and adjusts the elastic around Hermann’s head.

“Is that okay?” he asks.

“Just fine.”

“If you want me to stop, just say so.”

“Of course.”

They kiss again. There’s a difference between kissing Hermann when he’s blindfolded and kissing him when he can see. Newt feels more confident, and even a little powerful. He’s proud that Hermann trusts him like this, and he deeply, _deeply_ wants to make this good for him. He pulls back and relishes the way Hermann chases after him.

“I love kissing you,” Newt murmurs.

“Come back here and I’ll give you another.”

Hermann’s hands slide up Newt’s arms, giving him goosebumps. They hit his sleeves, rolled up at the elbow, then find the edges of Newt’s open shirt and fumble it off Newt’s shoulders. Newt shrugs, letting the shirt fall to the floor. Hermann touches Newt’s neck, maps each plane and crease of his chest. Newt leans into the warmth of Hermann’s open palms.

“Your hands are all over the place,” he sighs. Hermann cups them around Newt’s waist.

“I like your body,” he says. He presses his lips to Newt’s throat, then follows it up to Newt’s chin and presses a slow, off-center kiss to Newt’s lips.

Newt shivers. “Okay, I know the blindfold is on you, but I feel like I’m getting all the benefit.”

Hermann laughs, and because his eyes are hidden from view, Newt ends up staring at his mouth, instead. It stretches wide, three smile lines appearing at either corner. His grin is toothy, and lingers once the laughter is gone.

“Would you like to even things out?” Hermann asks.

Newt, still distracted by the sight of Hermann’s smile, nods briefly before remembering that Hermann can’t see him. “Yeah,” he says, his voice breaking. He unbuttons Hermann’s shirt, pressing his lips to Hermann’s skin as more and more of it is revealed. Hermann leans back into the pillows and arches up towards him.

“Lift your hips,” Newt says. Hermann does, and Newt pulls his pants down and off of his legs. Hermann’s hands curl into the bed sheet.

“Doing okay?” Newt asks.

“Yes.” Hermann finds Newt’s knee, then his thigh, patting around until he reaches Newt’s erection pressing up against his open pants.

“Eager,” Newt says, giving in and letting Hermann rub him through the fabric. He closes his eyes and focuses on the solid press of Hermann’s fingers. It’s so good, but not enough. He wants more. He wants Hermann’s palm wrapped around him.

Hermann sits up and pulls Newt into his lap. They kiss while Hermann’s hands roam over Newt’s back. Newt grinds down, and Hermann encourages him, squeezing Newt’s hips and guiding him closer.

“Hold up,” Newt gasps. “I’m too hard to be wearing pants right now.”

Hermann nods, his mouth falling open. Newt slides off the edge of the bed and peels off his slightly-too-small corduroys. He loses his socks and his boxers, then watches as Hermann kicks his own underwear to the foot of the bed. Newt’s eyes are drawn to Hermann’s dick, hard and pink and curving up towards his stomach.

“Newton?” Hermann asks, his body tensing.

“Right here.” Newt puts a hand on Hermann’s knee.

“Don’t be so quiet when I can’t see you,” Hermann murmurs.

“Me? Quiet?” Newt pulls open the drawer in the bedside table and takes out a bottle of lube. He pushes Hermann’s legs apart and sits between them, then pours some lube into his palm and lets his skin warm it a bit before he starts stroking Hermann with slow, gentle tugs.

“Mmm, I was right,” Hermann sighs. “The sensation _is_ heightened like this.”

Newt watches the blissful smile on Hermann’s face. He sits up and gives himself a few quick tugs, then straddles Hermann’s thighs.

“Help me out here,” he says, his voice rough. He takes Hermann’s hand and flattens it, then slicks Hermann’s fingers. He guides Hermann’s hand beneath his body.

“Ah—” Newt gasps at the first slightly-cold touch. Hermann’s finger is long and slim and fits inside of him like it was meant to be there. Newt cocks his hips back.

“You feel like velvet,” Hermann whispers.

Newt snorts. “What kind of weird velvet have you been touching?”

Hermann doesn’t take the bait, and Newt doesn’t bother giving another snarky comment. He’s impatient now, and starts to whine. Hermann adds another finger. Newt’s half out of his mind within seconds.

“Okay, okay,” he groans. “God, please. That’s good enough.”

Hermann crooks his fingers, and Newt yelps. He crushes Hermann’s mouth in a rough kiss. Hermann laughs into it.

Newt lifts himself up on his thighs and sinks down onto Hermann’s dick. Hermann stops laughing. His mouth forms a little “o,” and both his hands hold tight to Newt’s hips. Newt is just about to lean in for a kiss when Hermann speaks.

“Wait—stop.”

“Huh?”

“Stop. I’m safewording.”

Newt stops moving. Hermann pulls off the blindfold, but before Newt can ask if he’s okay, Hermann pulls Newt back down against his mouth and kisses him with his eyes open.

“I can’t stand not seeing you,” he gasps, when they part. “The blindfold was fine at first, but I don’t want to—I can’t do this without looking you in the eye.”

Newt stares at him. It’s super romantic, and he’s getting a little emotional, but he can’t help but laugh about it.

“You want to look me in the eye while we fuck? You don’t wanna use a blindfold because you want to look me in the eye while you’re fucking me?”

“Oh, shut up.”

Newt giggles. Hermann puts his hands back on Newt’s hips and guides him up and down.

“Holy shit dude, I thought we were finally gonna be cool and kinky, but no way, we had to stop because my dumb romantic boyfriend wants to gaze into my eyes while he—”

Hermann thrusts upward, and Newt is cut off with a yelp mid-sentence. Hermann gives a low rumbling laugh, and Newt starts moving more frantically, and the blindfold falls to the floor, completely forgotten.

 

\---

 

The next day at lunch, Newt puts on his smuggest “I have a secret” facial expression before sitting down at his usual table next to Lin Wei.

“God, just tell me and get it over with,” she says, rolling her eyes.

Newt spits it out. “I blindfolded Hermann last night, and he was totally into it.”

Lin Wei shrugs. “Is that all?”

“Well, I mean. It was our first time using one. He uh—never wanted to try it before.”

“Okay. Well. Congratulations, I guess.”

Newt was kind of expecting more fanfare—for her to be a little more impressed. He eats his meal sullenly, until Lin Wei waves over two of their friends. Luis and Yu have been together for at least fifteen years. Newt got to know them while he was stationed in Tokyo.

“Hey, you guys have tried blindfolds, right?” Lin Wei asks.

Newt smacks her on the arm. “Holy shit, why are you spreading this around?”

“What? I said nothing about you! I was just asking a simple question to these two fine gentlemen.”

“You suck.”

Lin Wei smirks, and they somehow all get into a conversation about the pros and cons of blindfolds during sex. It quickly becomes clear that Newt was the last person in the universe to try blindfolding his partner. And despite what he said to Lin Wei, he’s not even sure if the whole experiment counted as a success. Yeah, Hermann liked it for a while, but they didn’t exactly finish with the blindfold on.

“Hey,” Lin Wei says to him, as they all get up to leave. “Don’t worry about it. What’s said at the gay lunch table _stays_ at the gay lunch table.”

Newt gives a tight smile. Lin Wei is the second-biggest gossip he knows, after Tendo.

 

\---

 

After the sort-of-failure of the blindfold, Hermann wants to try something they already know they like. They’ve done massage before, though never for sex—only ever to soothe Hermann’s pain. Newt genuinely loves doing it, and he’s excited to branch out to a more sensual application.

“You wanna start out on your back, then I’ll flip you over?” he asks.

Hermann looks at him like he's grown an extra head. “Why would you assume _I’m_ the one getting massaged?”

Ten minutes later, Newt is naked, lying on his stomach with his arms beneath his pillow. Hermann is massaging his shoulders and back and butt and legs and Newt is both hard against the mattress and incredibly close to falling asleep.

“This is great,” he slurs, at the same time that Hermann stops and says—

“I don’t think this is working.”

Newt lifts his head, blinking in confusion. “Wait, what do you mean?”

“The massage oil isn’t arousing. It has pheromones in it!” Hermann’s voice is nearing a whine. “I’m no biologist, but I thought that was supposed to _do_ something.”

Newt snorts. “Can I record you saying ‘I’m no biologist’ and play it back on loop in the lab?”

Hermann swats Newt’s butt.

“Ow! Dude, I told you: pheromone products are bullshit. You’re better off getting me all sweaty and sniffing my armpits.”

“That’s disgusting.”

“It’s true! My natural body odor is gonna get you hotter than any of the chemicals in that fancy bottle. That’s just science.”

Hermann heaves a sigh.

“What are you so upset about? I’m the one who paid for it.”

“It’s not the money, it’s the principle of the thing. The advertising was misleading—”

“Oh god, someone call an attorney!” Newt rolls his eyes. He hears Hermann chuckle, so he keeps going. “Help! Dr. Gottlieb fell for false advertising on a sex toy website!”

“Be quiet, someone will hear you.” Hermann gives Newt a gentle shove, but there’s laughter in his voice. Newt rolls onto his side and props himself up on his elbow.

“Are we gonna continue or are you gonna file a complaint?”

Hermann’s eyes flicker down Newt’s body. “We can continue.”

“Good.”

Newt lies back down. Hermann pours more oil into his palm and starts massaging Newt’s lower back. His hands are cool, and Newt’s skin is sensitive and overheated. The contrast feels incredible. Newt groans and buries his head into the pillow. Hermann’s hands dip lower. He kneads Newt’s ass and slips between his thighs, one finger brushing against Newt’s balls. Newt whimpers and squirms.

“How does that feel?” Hermann murmurs. There’s a rough edge to his voice that makes Newt shiver. Hermann keeps stroking with a single-minded attention. As his fingers drift inward, it occurs to Newt that this massage oil can double as lube.

“Wait—Hermann,” he says, voice muffled. Hermann doesn’t hear him, so Newt turns his head to the side. “Hermann?” he says again.

Hermann leans down and kisses him on the back of the shoulder. “Yes, love?” he asks. His middle finger is resting right on the cleft of Newt’s ass.

Newt pauses for a half-second. “Um. I gotta poop.”

For a moment, they’re both frozen in time. Then Hermann sits up and throws his hands in the air. Newt bursts out laughing.

“I’m sorry!”

“Why didn’t you go before I got home?!”

“I didn’t have to go before you got home! I can’t just force myself to poop!”

“Newton, stop yelling and go to the bathroom.”

Newt’s still laughing as he gets up from bed. He walks across the room naked and looks over his shoulder to see Hermann get under the covers and turn onto his side. When Newt comes out of the bathroom, Hermann is still there, facing the opposite direction and pretending to sleep.

“You still love me, right?” Newt asks, curling up behind him and wrapping one arm around Hermann’s waist.

“Go away,” Hermann says. “I’ve lost my erection.”

Newt giggles. He hugs Hermann tightly and feels Hermann lean back into him.

“You know what?” Newt asks. “I bet I can make it come back.” He slips his hand under Hermann’s t-shirt and runs his fingers along his chest, pressing himself close and kissing Hermann’s nape. Hermann sighs and rolls over to face him.

“You are incorrigible,” he whispers, before they kiss.

 

\---

 

The massage oil was nice, but it wasn’t really kinky. Newt thinks about this as he goes through the line for food in the mess hall. He’s late today—he got wrapped up in a dissection and worked past his usual lunch time—so instead of eating with Lin Wei, he’s with Hermann. He takes his tray of food and sits down next to Hermann at an otherwise-empty table.

“I can see why you take lunch late,” he says. “There’s barely anyone here.”

Hermann looks around the room and shrugs, then goes back to eating his soup.

“So—I was thinking.” Newt stuffs an enormous dumpling into his mouth and chews.

“Why would you begin a sentence and then put food into your mouth?” Hermann asks.

Newt doesn’t grace the question with an answer. “Anyway,” he says. “I was thinking. I wanna try bondage next.”

“Lower your voice!” Hermann looks quickly around the room, but no one seems to have heard. “Why must we talk about this at lunch?”

“Uh, because we’re together and we’re not working and because I want to? We could talk about it at dinner but you wanted to go to that sushi place and I doubt you’ll wanna talk about it there.”

Hermann frowns, but waves his hand in a “carry on” motion.

“So, bondage. You got to choose the last two things, so the next one is my choice. I want you to tie me up and do things to me.”

“What sorts of things?”

“Sex things.” Newt waggles his eyebrows.

Hermann gives an amused smirk and scoops a wonton onto his spoon, eating it calmly and looking out into the distance with a thoughtful expression on his face.

“I suppose that can be arranged,” he says, finally.

“ _Arranged_? What are you, my manager?”

Hermann takes Newt’s hand and kisses his knuckles. Newt’s not sure his smart-ass comment deserved it, but he certainly isn’t complaining.

 

\---

 

At the end of the night, once they’ve gotten back from sushi and brushed their teeth at Hermann’s insistence, they stand at opposite sides of the bed, looking at each other with nervousness and hesitation.

“Okay,” Newt says, fidgeting. “So....”

“I’d like you in a chair.” Hermann nods over at the desk chair, then looks back at Newt. “Pull it out into the middle of the room, then strip down to your underwear.”

“Wow, uh—you’ve been thinking about this, huh?” Hermann blushes and looks away. “Hey, that’s not a bad thing, dude! I’m glad you’re into it!”

Newt moves the chair, then takes off his shirt and pants. He tosses them to the foot of the bed, but Hermann clears his throat loudly, so Newt moves them to the laundry bin.

“Yes _sir_ ,” he says. He takes off his socks, too. It hasn’t escaped his notice that Hermann hasn’t removed any clothing. He’s even still wearing his shoes.

“I’ve been practicing my knots,” Hermann says. “I have a couple memorized.” He gathers up the rope they bought, as well as two of Newt’s ties and a small pocket knife that Newt didn’t even know he owned. “In case of an emergency,” Hermann explains. He sets everything on a nearby table.

“You, uh—want me to sit down?” Newt asks.

Hermann bites his lip. He comes closer and wraps his arms around Newt’s waist.

“I’m nervous,” he admits.

“You’re gonna do fine,” Newt says. “You’ve been practicing, remember?”

“Only the knots.”

“That’s all you need!” Newt kisses him. “We’re not doing anything more than tying me up. If we want to try D/s stuff later, we can talk about it, but for now, it’s just business as usual, plus some rope. Okay?”

Herman nods, and presses another tentative kiss to the corner of Newt’s mouth.

“I love you,” Newt says. Hermann smiles, and Newt watches his eyes crinkle slightly at the corners.

“I love you, too.” Hermann releases Newt from his arms and gives him a little push towards the chair. Newt sits down, and Hermann pulls Newt’s arms back. “Now keep your wrists together,” he says.

Newt swallows. He closes his eyes and tries to focus on the feeling of the rope against his skin—the firm tug, the snug fit. The way Hermann stops now and then to caress Newt’s fingers. Hermann pauses, then releases the rope. Newt feels the knot unravel.

“Shit,” Hermann curses. He unwinds the rope, then re-wraps it around Newt’s wrists. Newt can feel him pause as if thinking, then he wraps the rope the other way. After another two minutes of tying unravelling knots in an increasingly desperate manner, Hermann sighs angrily and stomps across the room to grab his tablet from its charging station.

“Hey,” Newt says, catching Hermann’s eye. “Pobody’s nerfect.”

Hermann gives an aggravated scowl.

A few minutes and one online tutorial later, Newt’s wrists are bound comfortably behind him.

“How does that feel?” Hermann asks. “It looks snug, but it shouldn’t be too tight. Does it hurt?”

Newt shrugs with minor difficulty. “No, it’s fine.”

“Good.” Hermann plucks a pillow off the bed and sets it on the floor in front of Newt’s legs, then kneels down on top of it. Newt knows that Hermann is preparing to tie his ankles, but he can’t help but think of all the other things Hermann could be doing in this position. He shifts a little in the chair, arousal building low in his belly.

“Calm yourself,” Hermann murmurs, with a smirk.

Newt groans. “Can’t help it.”

Hermann ties each of Newt’s ankles to one chair leg using the neck ties he pulled from Newt’s dresser. He eschews fancy knots this time, choosing to use simple square knots instead.

“Comfortable?” he asks. Newt nods. “Good.”

Hermann runs his fingers along Newt's calf, then kisses his knee and gets up from the floor with a soft grunt and a grimace. He’s still fully clothed, and Newt feels strangely exposed—he’s naked, his legs are spread, and Hermann is towering above him.

"So uh—what are you going to do to me?" he asks.

Hermann smiles. “Mmm, I thought I might tease you a bit.”

Newt nods. He’s half hard, and he thinks it could be the bondage, but there are too many other variables to really come to a solid conclusion. Hermann’s eyes keep roving over his body. Newt feels a little warm under Hermann’s focus. He licks his lips, and Hermann’s gaze narrows in on his mouth.

“You gonna get started?” Newt asks.

Hermann circles around the chair, burying his hand in Newt’s hair and dragging it from one side of his head to the other. When he comes around front again, he sits down in Newt’s lap. He wraps an arm around Newt’s shoulders, the wool of his sweater sleeve tickling the back of Newt’s neck.

“You’re very attractive,” he says leaning in for a kiss.

Newt melts a little. He’s always been self-conscious about his body. He’s not exactly thin or built, and every time Hermann looks at him like he’s a work of art, Newt can’t believe how lucky he is. He wants to wrap his arms around Hermann’s slim waist. He tries, tugging his arms before remembering he’s tied up.

“Is there something you wanted?” Hermann asks, mock innocence in his voice.

“Man, you are evil.”

Hermann laughs, those smile lines at the corners of his mouth again. He cups Newt’s cheek and kisses him, then trails his hand down, fingers lightly brushing Newt’s throat.

Newt’s breaths start coming faster. Hermann traces his collarbone, then the linework of his half-finished chest piece. He circles one nipple, causing a sharp bolt of arousal to rush through Newt’s body, making him whimper. Hermann looks Newt in the eye, palm flat against Newt’s stomach.

“This appears to be doing something for you,” he says. He motions to Newt’s erection with a nod of his head. “I’m not surprised. You’ve always enjoyed a bit of a tease.”

Newt swallows. Hermann leans into the crook of Newt’s neck and presses increasingly sloppy kisses to his skin. One of his hands clutches Newt’s shoulder, the other rests on his thigh. His thumb slides beneath Newt’s boxers, reaching up for the soft, sensitive skin underneath.

“God,” Newt groans. “This is the worst.”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“Fuck no, you’re doing so good.”

Hermann sucks a hickey into Newt’s neck, then soothes the tender skin with his tongue. He nuzzles against Newt’s hair and exhales softly over his ear.

“I like having you at my mercy,” he whispers. “But I do miss your tricky little hands sneaking all over my body.”

Newt pulls back until he’s able to kiss Hermann solidly on the mouth. Hermann sighs into it, and Newt tries to hold him again—his brain constantly forgetting about the rope.

“Oh—” he says, breaking the kiss. Something is off, and his body tenses. “Um—Hermann?” he asks. Hermann gives him a questioning look. “Okay, don’t freak out, but like—I can’t feel my fingers.”

Hermann’s eyes bulge in a way that would be comical in any other situation. He scrambles up from Newt’s lap.

"I said don't freak out!"

Hermann grabs the pocket knife and falls to his knees behind the chair.

"Newton, your hands are turning blue!"

"Oh."

Hermann wiggles his pocket knife into the knot, muttering under his breath. There’s a sharp tug, then the ropes loosen and fall from Newt’s wrists. Newt brings his hands in front of him, touching the angry red marks gingerly.

"Are you alright?" Hermann asks. He quickly cuts through the ties binding Newt's ankles, although they weren't uncomfortable at all.

"I'm good, man." Newt shakes his hands, feeling pins and needles as the blood rushes back through his veins.

"Are you certain? I can bring you to the med bay. You can use my wheelchair.”

"Dude, chill out." Newt grabs Hermann with his still-prickly hands. Hermann stills, but gathers Newt's hands in his own and rubs them in an attempt to help the blood flow. "I'm fine," Newt repeats.

"I'm so sorry," Hermann murmurs, his voice near to breaking. "I'm so sorry, Newton, I didn't realize they were so tightly bound."

"It's okay, they won’t have to be amputated."

Hermann cracks a smile. Newt's hands are a little pink, but healthy. Hermann kisses them softly.

"You have the most dreadful marks around your wrists," he says.

"Yeah, everyone's gonna know what we've been up to."

“You will _not_ use these to show off! I’m not proud of them.”

Newt snorts. He stands up and gathers Hermann into his arms. Hermann holds him tight, his sweater soft and warm against Newt’s bare skin. Newt closes his eyes and rests his head against Hermann's shoulder. When he opens them again, he notices his two ripped ties lying on the floor. Newt frowns. He'll have to complain about that later.

 

\---

 

Bondage is cancelled. They try spanking, but Hermann ends up hurting his hand and safewording out. They try it again using the paddle they bought, but they only get fifteen minutes into the scene before Newt bursts out laughing.

“I’m sorry!” he wheezes. “I just can’t take this seriously!”

They move on to the tickler a few days later. Things seem to be going fine for a while, but then Newt tickles Hermann’s ear, then his cheek, then gets too close to his nose, and Hermann jerks up into a sitting position and gives an enormous sneeze.

“Ohhh…” he groans, afterward.

“What? Do you need a tissue?”

“Well it’s too late now....I just sneezed on my erection.”

Newt laughs harder than he ever has, and Hermann flops over onto his stomach.

 

\---

 

Newt keeps his sleeves rolled down when he goes to lunch. The bruises around his wrists have faded, but not enough for him to stop feeling self-conscious about them. He scans the busy mess hall until he finds Lin Wei, and sits down across from her. Lin Wei is talking to someone Newt doesn’t recognize, but she looks up and smiles at him.

“Hey,” she says. “This is Kai, they’re new in mechanics.”

Kai smiles, and Newt gives a friendly wave. “I’m Newt. K-science.”

“Newt and I are lunch buddies,” Lin Wei explains. “Newt’s boyfriend likes to eat late, so I keep him company.”

“You’re dating someone from work?” Kai asks.

Lin Wei snorts. “Most people are.”

“We knew each other before the PPDC,” Newt explains. “We actually met because we’re both into K-science.”

“It’s really a love story for the ages,” Lin Wei snarks.

“Shut up.”

“What do you study?” Kai asks.

“Me? Kaiju biology.”

“Oh, awesome! I love watching those Discovery documentaries about—”

“Ugh, the Discovery documentaries are trash.”

Kai’s face falls, and Lin Wei interrupts before Newt can go further.

“If you like kaiju,” she says. “You should check out Newt’s tattoos.” She reaches across the table for Newt’s arm. “Roll up your sleeves.”

“Oh, uh—”

“You have tattoos? I have twelve of them.” Kai twists around and pulls down the neck of their shirt to show off a brightly striped fish on the back of their shoulder. “This was my first. It’s a squirrelfish. We call it ‘ala’ihi in Hawai’i.”

“That's cool!” says Lin Wei. “Newt’s are more stylized. Newt, come on!”

Newt holds his breath and rolls up his sleeves, then stretches his arms out in front of him.

“That’s incredible!” says Kai. “Do they go all the way up?”

“Uh, yeah,” Newt nods. “I have a chest piece, too, but it’s not finished yet.”

Lin Wei is looking down at Newt’s arms, frowning at his wrist. Her eyes widen. She checks the other wrist, sees a similar bruise, and looks up at Newt with a smirk. Newt mouths _shut up_ before she can say anything.

 

\---

 

Weeks pass without the sex experiment continuing. Hermann turns Newt down twice. At first, Newt just assumes Hermann’s pain is flaring up, which happens pretty regularly and has kept them from having sex before. But soon, Newt starts to realize that Hermann is pulling away in other situations, as well. They normally walk to the lab together, but Hermann starts getting up early. They usually watch a movie on Friday nights, but Hermann claims he’s too tired. Newt starts to worry. He spends Friday with Tendo and Alison, but they keep giving him pitying looks that just make him feel worse about himself.

One night, just as Newt is about to gather his courage and ask Hermann what’s up, Hermann surprises him first.

“Would you like to try the candle tonight?” he asks.

For a moment, Newt doesn’t know what he means, but he catches on quickly.

“Oh—oh, yeah!” he says. “Yeah, you were looking forward to that, weren’t you?”

Hermann doesn’t say anything. He takes the candle out of the box and slides the box back underneath their bed.

“I gotta say, I was kind of getting worried there. I thought you were like—sick of the kink thing. We haven’t done it in forever.”

“We’ll do it tonight.”

Newt watches as Hermann turns on his lamp, then turns off the overhead lights. Hermann doesn’t say a word—doesn’t even look at him. Newt feels a little weird about this.

“This is the last item we have to try,” Hermann says.

Newt smiles. “We could get some more stuff! Or try something again. The massage oil, maybe? I feel like the rope had potential, too. I know it freaked you out, but we’ll be more careful next time.”

Hermann lights the candle and sets it on his nightstand.

“I was reading about this,” he says, changing the subject. “People suggest putting a shower curtain on the bed and covering it with an old sheet. That will protect the mattress from any spills.”

Newt nods. “Okay, yeah. I don’t really want to explain wax spills to the people at the housing office.”

Hermann gives a small smile. Newt smiles back, relaxing a bit, then goes into the bathroom to get a new shower curtain from under the sink.

It takes a little while to set up, and even longer to wait for the wax to melt into a big enough pool. They spend their time making out in bed and slowly divesting each other of clothing. Hermann warms up after a few really long kisses, and Newt stops worrying.

“Are you ready?” he asks. Hermann nods, then lies down, propping his head up on two pillows. They make eye contact. Newt lifts the candle and holds it high in the air, then tilts it. A thin drizzle of wax hits Hermann’s stomach.

"Oh!" he yelps. Newt rights the candle, worried, but then Hermann releases a sigh. "Oh, it's not as hot as I expected," he says.

“You good?” Newt asks.

“Yes. I was just startled. Keep going.”

Newt drizzles wax across Hermann’s body, making long stripes horizontally over his skin. It looks beautiful, clinging and dripping along every curve. Newt tries not to get distracted by the sight of it.

Hermann breathes in and out slowly. “Up higher,” he says. “Lower.”

Newt follows his instruction until Hermann appears to get bored.

“You want me to use the paintbrush?” Newt asks.

“Yes.”

The candle came with a thick paintbrush on the inside of the lid. Newt dips it into the wax and paints a broad stroke down the middle of Hermann’s chest. Hermann closes his eyes, which Newt takes as a good sign. He dips the brush again and paints a circle right over Hermann’s nipple.

“Oh,” Hermann says. “That feels nice. It’s very soft.”

Newt is delighted to get a positive reaction, so he repeats it on the other side. He draws a smiley face over Hermann’s right pectoral, then a heart over his left. He loves leaving his mark on Hermann. It’s like a signature—a sign that he was there, that Hermann allowed Newt to touch him like this. Newt straightens up and admires his handiwork, but he soon notices that Hermann’s eyes look distant and distracted.

“Hey,” he asks. “Are you bored?” Hermann looks at him sharply, but Newt barrels ahead. “How can you be zoning out when I’m dripping hot wax on you?”

“I’m not _zoning out_.”

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

“It’s _fine_. I’m used to dealing with pain.”

Hermann’s tone is biting, and Newt is taken aback. It’s obvious that something is wrong. “You okay?” he asks, putting a tentative hand on Hermann’s chest.

Hermann sighs. “Yes.”

Newt glances down and sees that Hermann isn’t even hard. “You’re not—”

“Newton.”

Newt swallows. He puts down the candle, and Hermann tenses.

“Babe, I don’t want to do this if you’re not into it.”

“I’m not adverse to it.”

“But you aren’t—it isn’t turning you on.”

“Well then keep going. I’ll get there.”

“I don’t want you to get there. I want you to be there already.”

Hermann doesn’t say anything. Newt bites his lip, and they stare at each other in tense silence.

“Please say something,” Newt pleads, quietly. “I can’t read your face.”

There’s another moment of silence, then Hermann sits up. “You’re right,” he says. “Let’s give up.” He brushes loose wax from his skin, gets off the bed, and walks into to the bathroom. Newt hears the door lock. Hermann starts the shower.

 

\---

 

They sleep facing opposite directions. Newt is relieved that Hermann didn’t ask him to sleep on the couch, but this is only marginally better. He stares at his nightstand. When his phone charges to 100%, the screen lights up and illuminates the surface of the table. Newt looks at the photo leaning against his lamp. It’s him and Hermann at Hong Kong’s Chinese New Year celebration last winter. Alison took the picture with one of her vintage Polaroid cameras. She meant to sneak a photo of them kissing, but she was too slow, and instead, caught them just afterward, their faces still close, both their eyes closed. Newt loves it. He plans to frame it one day, if he can ever find a frame that fits.

“Must you check social media _now_?” Hermann mutters.

Newt is pulled out of the memory. He reaches over and turns off the screen of his phone. The room is plunged back into darkness.

 

\---

 

Newt spends half the next morning wondering what to do about lunch. He doesn’t want to go to the mess hall and be surrounded by people, but he doesn’t want to eat in the lab and be alone with Hermann, either. He could eat in the city, but he doesn’t want to spend money, and all the nearby lunch places are usually crowded with Shatterdome workers, anyway. He finally decides to go to the mess hall, grab some food, and eat in his room.

The mess is noisy, as usual. When he’s in a good mood, Newt likes it, because it feels friendly and alive. When he’s in a bad mood, it’s the worst—overbearing and suffocating. Newt doesn’t bother grabbing a tray. He picks up a plastic-wrapped “to-go” sandwich and a bag of chips. There are drinks in their mini-fridge back in his room, so Newt slips out of line and starts heading towards the door.

“Hey, where are you going?” Lin Wei is walking in just as Newt is walking out. He drops his eyes to the floor and mutters something about having a lot of work to do, but Lin Wei takes one look at his face and immediately pulls him to the empty half of a table nestled far in the corner.

“Wait here,” she says. “I’ll be right back.”

Newt unwraps his sandwich and takes a bite. He chews mechanically and swallows, but his throat feels thick. He doesn’t want attention on him, and the noise in the room is making his skin crawl and his heart beat faster in that uncomfortable, panicky way.

“Okay, I’m back.” Lin Wei sits next to him, creating a barrier between Newt and the rest of the world. Newt sighs with relief and gratitude. He knows she sat there on purpose, but he doesn’t acknowledge it out loud. “Here.” Lin Wei pushes a mug of tea towards him. “I forget how much sugar you take.” She drops a handful of sugar packets onto the table.

“Thanks,” Newt murmurs. He stirs sugar into his tea and takes a slow, hot sip. It relaxes him almost immediately.

For a while, they just sit together quietly, eating their lunches and keeping each other company. Lin Wei doesn’t pressure Newt to speak, and she doesn’t say anything, either. When she’s finished eating, she pushes her empty dishes to the side and rests her crossed arms on the table.

“You gonna tell me what’s up?” she asks.

Newt shrugs. He eats another chip and stares inside the bag as if there’s something interesting in there.

“Hermann kinda hates me right now,” he says, after a moment. “And it’s your fault, too. I’m blaming you for all my sexual shortcomings, starting now, ending never.”

“Don’t joke.” Newt looks up to find that Lin Wei has genuine concern in her eyes. “You’re obviously upset; I’m just trying to help.”

Newt sighs. “I don’t know what I did, though. Remember when we were talking about bondage, and whether Hermann and I are kinky? Well—we aren’t, really, but I wanted to start like, trying different stuff. So that’s what we’ve been doing. Last night I noticed he wasn’t really into it, and when I pointed that out, he got really mad and stormed off. Today, he won’t even talk to me.”

“Did you ask him what was wrong?”

“Yeah. Well, I mean, sort of.”

“Okay, so that’s a no.” Lin Wei steals a chip from Newt’s bag. “Ask him now.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why don’t you want to? Not knowing is clearly making you miserable.”

“I’m afraid of what he’s going to say.” Newt crumples his empty chip bag in one hand with a little more force than necessary. He tosses it onto Lin Wei’s tray and slumps down onto the table with his head in his arms.

“You can’t just be afraid forever, Newt.”

“You sound like my therapist.”

“It’s true, though! What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Uh—he tells me he’s not into me anymore and he wants to break up and he kicks me out of our room and I have to go live alone and stare longingly at him from across the lab every day?”

“Yeah, that sure sounds likely.” Lin Wei nudges Newt with her elbow. “You guys just have to talk it out. Listen to each other.”

“You sure?”

“Of course! You love each other. You two have the strongest relationship of any couple I know—seriously. He’s not going to break up with you over something as stupid as bad sex.”

“I guess,” Newt gives a hesitant smile. “Yeah. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“One thing though—the sex wasn’t _bad_. I’m actually awesome at sex, so—”

“Oh, shut up.”

 

\---

 

Hermann isn’t in the lab when Newt comes back from lunch. Newt works alone with his music on, expecting Hermann to come in at any moment and yell at him to turn it down, but that never happens. Around dinnertime, he sends Hermann a text.

_where are u? wanna have dinner?_

Hermann responds almost immediately.

_Eat without me. I’ll be late._

 

\---

 

Newt is on the couch, scrolling through Twitter, when Hermann comes home. He glances over at Newt for a split-second, but doesn’t say anything before taking off his coat and hanging it up by the door.

“Hey,” Newt says, setting down his phone.

“Hello.” Hermann sits down on the edge of the bed and takes off his shoes. He arranges them neatly by his feet.

“Dude, can we talk?” Newt asks. His voice wavers on the last word.

“What is there to talk about?”

“Hermann, please.”

Hermann sighs. Newt sits down next to him on the bed.

“What’s wrong?” he asks. “What happened last night?”

“Nothing happened,” Hermann says. “I wasn’t aroused by what we were doing, so we stopped doing it. That’s all.”

“You were mad at me. You still are—you’ve barely spoken to me all day, and you missed dinner. We usually have dinner together.”

“I had dinner with Mako. I was helping her with her physics homework.”

“Well, that’s nice of you, but you could have told me that instead of saying ‘go eat alone.’”

Hermann purses his lips. His hands are clenched into fists on his lap, knuckles white with tension. Newt reaches out and takes one, uncurling Hermann’s fingers and squeezing them.

“It’s my fault,” Hermann says, quietly. “I was upset at having disappointed you.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Last night. Everything we’ve been doing. I’m not good at experimenting. I’m not as adventurous as you, and I know you were looking forward to something better. More exciting.”

Newt’s heart breaks a little. He puts a hand on Hermann’s cheek and turns him inward.

“Hermann, what made you think—okay, I guess _I_ made you think—but dude, I never meant to—”

“Slow down, Newton. Complete a sentence.”

“I never meant to make you feel like you weren’t good enough! Or like—like I was bored and needed more excitement. This was supposed to be something that was fun for both of us.”

“But nothing we did worked. I was expecting something to click with me, but everything we did was a failure.”

“Uh—define ‘failure.’”

“We didn’t end up liking anything. And you wanted to be kinky.”

“I didn’t—”

“You did! That’s what started this whole thing! You were worried about what other people think about us, and you kept calling us vanilla!”

“I....” Newt thinks back and realizes it’s true. He didn’t exactly approach this in the best possible way. “But—in the beginning, I _told_ you I didn’t think we’re boring.”

“You said so, yes. But it didn’t feel like it.” Hermann looks down at their joined hands, his eyes distant and his face solemn.

“I’m sorry,” Newt says. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. It was never really about being kinky. It was about having fun together.”

Hermann is quiet for a long time. Newt feels kind of awful. He waits for Hermann to speak, not wanting to pressure him or say anything that makes him angry, or feel even worse.

“Alright,” Hermann says, finally.

Newt leans in and gives Hermann a soft, closed-lip kiss.

“I love you,” he says. “I love everything we do together. I don’t care if we’re vanilla for the rest of our lives; there’s nothing wrong with that. All I care about is being with you and making you feel good and showing you how much I love you.”

Hermann blinks rapidly. “Thank you,” he whispers. “You’re very sweet. And I love you, too.”

“Good.” Newt smiles. “Awesome.” He squeezes Hermann’s hand. Hermann leans in to kiss him again, this time with relief and forgiveness. Newt wraps an arm around Hermann’s waist, and Hermann scoots closer.

“You wanna get a little more comfortable?” Newt asks.

Hermann nods, a light blush appearing on his cheeks. They both shift backwards and lie down on their sides, rearranging themselves until they’re comfortable. Newt nuzzles Hermann’s neck and peppers soft kisses against his skin.

“You’re so nice and warm here,” he murmurs. “And you smell great. I love Hermann-smell.” Hermann runs his hand along Newt’s back. “I’m sorry I made you think you were boring. I could never get bored of this.”

“Alright now, you don’t need to convince me anymore.” Hermann smiles and pulls back enough to look Newt in the eye. “We’ve made up already, haven’t we?”

“I hope so.”

“We have.” Hermann runs his thumb along Newt’s cheek. “Didn’t you shave this morning?”

“Yeah. That’s five o’clock shadow.” Newt presses into Hermann’s palm. “You think I’d look good with a beard?”

“I’ve seen you with a beard. Remember? A few years back?”

“That wasn’t a beard, that was a lost bet.”

Hermann laughs and starts undoing the buttons on Newt’s shirt.

“Are we about to have makeup sex?” Newt asks.

“We are indeed.” Hermann tugs Newt’s shirt out from his waistband, then gets to work on his own clothes. He pulls his sweater up over his head. “In fact, considering what we’ve been up to lately, I think we should take a break and have the plainest, most boring sex imaginable.”

Newt smiles. He sits up and shrugs his shirt off his shoulders, tossing it to the foot of the bed.

“Can I take off your pants?” he asks. “In a really boring way?”

“Yes, please do.” Hermann folds his shirt and places it neatly on the floor by his shoes. He lies back, resting his head on one bent arm. “God, I’m so _bored_ ,” he moans.

Newt stifles a laugh. He unclasps Hermann’s pants and heaves a dramatic sigh as he unzips the fly. Hermann lifts his hips and Newt pulls the pants down and off of Hermann’s pale, skinny legs.

“I’m falling asleep, Newton, do try to be more exciting.”

Newt tosses the pants over the edge of the bed.

“Sorry to _bore_ you,” he says. He takes off his own pants, scrunching them down to his knees, then flopping onto his butt to shimmy them the rest of the way down his legs.

“Boxer briefs?” Hermann asks. He licks his lips.

“Yeah, you like ‘em?” Newt crawls closer and kneels over Hermann’s hips.

“Are those new?”

“No, you’ve seen these before. They shrunk a little in the dryer, so maybe they look different.”

“God, they really leave nothing to the imagination.” Hermann traces the outline of Newt’s half-hard erection through the fabric. Newt whimpers, his hips twitching forward against Hermann’s fingertips. “Oh,” Hermann says, dropping his hand, his voice slightly breathless.

Newt leans down, bracing his arms on either side of Hermann’s head and leaning in to kiss him slowly. Hermann’s hands run down his sides and settle low on his hips; they’re gentle and soft against Newt’s skin. Hermann moans into the kiss, and Newt sits back up.

“Sorry, was that kiss too boring?” he asks.

“Overwhelmingly dull.”

Newt laughs. He takes Hermann’s hand, looking down at him with a smile and seeing mischief and amusement in Hermann’s eyes.

“You’re so lucky I love you,” Newt says.

“Truly, I am.” Hermann pulls Newt onto the bed, then rolls him over and lies on top of him. Every inch of his warm body presses against Newt’s skin.

“Shit,” Newt hisses. “I wish my torso were longer.”

“What?” Hermann bursts out laughing. Newt watches him, smiling as Hermann smothers his face against the pillow.

“Our dicks don’t line up!” Newt says. “Every time we do this, we either gotta align our dicks or align our faces; we can’t have it both ways!”

Hermann is still laughing, but he slows down and takes a deep breath.

“You are ridiculous,” he says.

“It’s true!”

Hermann kisses him, and whatever Newt meant to say next fizzles out in his brain. He wraps one arm around Hermann’s waist and presses his free palm to the small of Hermann’s back. He loves the dip there—the concave bend of Hermann’s spine before it swells back out.

“Are you still bored?” Hermann asks.

“I’m snoring as we speak.” Newt takes the opportunity to flip them back over. He kisses Hermann’s throat, then his chest, then follows a line right along Hermann’s sternum, down his stomach, to the top of his blue plaid boxers. He pauses for effect, and gives his most devilish smile.

“In fact, let me show you just how boring I can be.”

Hermann actually shivers, which Newt counts as a major win. He taps Hermann’s hip to get him to lift up, and pulls the boxers down and off.

“Please,” Hermann breathes.

Newt wastes no time teasing, just takes Hermann’s cock into his mouth and relishes Hermann’s sharp gasp. His hand reaches for Newt’s hair, tangling into it, gently tugging, but not enough to hurt. Newt suckles him slowly. His eyebrows are knit, and he’s distantly aware that he’s making soft moaning noises. He hears Hermann mumbling up above him, but can’t make out any words. He takes Hermann in until Hermann’s cock hits the back of his throat.

“Newton,” Hermann gasps.

Newt pulls off before Hermann can come. Hermann groans like he’s in pain.

“How was that?” Newt asks.

“Don’t tell me you’re finished.”

“I’m taking a little break.” Newt reaches into his underwear and strokes himself, looking down at Hermann with a grin.

Hermann raises an eyebrow. “May I watch?”

“Watch what?”

“God, you’re insufferable.”

Newt laughs. He takes off his boxer briefs and continues to stroke himself, aware of Hermann’s eyes watching his every move.

“You’re gorgeous,” Hermann murmurs. “I’ve always thought this, from the very first moment I saw you.”

Newt’s heart feels warm. Just to reward Hermann, he kneels down and takes him into his mouth again. Hermann feels hot and heavy.

“God—” Hermann’s hand tangles back into Newt’s hair. This time, propped up on his knees, Newt can suck Hermann and touch himself, both at the same time. It takes a little more concentration, but he finds a rhythm.

“Newton,” Hermann whispers. “Newton, I’m going to—”

Newt pulls off. “You’re going to what?”

Hermann groans loudly, and not in a good way. Newt tries not to laugh. Hermann seems to have lost all patience. He sits up, wincing a bit, and clutching the bed sheet.

“Whoa, whoa,” Newt says. “Slow down.” He reaches for Hermann’s leg, but Hermann brushes him away. He gives Newt a fierce kiss, then takes Newt’s cock and jerks him off with rough, quick strokes.

“Holy shit,” Newt gasps, arousal building from his thighs to his chest. “God, yes, that’s so good, holy shit Hermann—oh my god, I’m gonna—” Newt’s hands scrabble against Hermann’s chest, finally clinging to his shoulders as Newt lets out a long whine and comes.

Newt’s vision goes blurry. He sucks in deep breaths and presses his face against Hermann’s neck.

“Holy shit,” he sighs. Once he’s calmed down enough, he notices Hermann’s hand working furtively between their bodies. “Wait,” Newt says. “I was gonna blow you, I swear, I was just—”

“No time.” Hermann catches his breath and presses his forehead against Newt’s. Newt kisses him, and Hermann leans in a little too much. Their mouths mash together as Hermann finishes, wet and perfect. “God,” he groans. His lips move against Newt’s, and it tickles a little, so Newt giggles.

Hermann is adorable post-orgasm. He gets really sleepy and clingy, and Newt loves being the one who gets to experience this. He picks up his shirt and wipes them both off. Hermann is still in too much of a daze to complain about it. Newt hugs him and kisses him, and Hermann is smiling and compliant when Newt pulls him down to lie on the bed.

“You’re out of it,” Newt says.

Hermann laughs softly. He nestles in close, and Newt drapes the blankets over their bodies.

“Thanks for the boring sex,” he says.

Hermann hums. “Average. Vanilla. Typical.”

“So dull. I almost fell asleep.”

“Heavens, I thought you _were_ asleep.”

Newt laughs. Hermann watches him smile. They lie together for a while, drifting in and out of sleep, until Newt reaches up and turns out the light.

 

\---


End file.
